Page 82 of My Best Friend's Dad

“That your lover boy?” Heath asked, getting up and rushing to the window. He clapped his hands together and smiled. “Looks like it’s all going down now.” He turned around and went back to the couch, picking up the journal again.

I tried to loosen my restraints again, wincing and clenching my teeth at the jolts of pain that shot out from where the skin had been rubbed raw. This was getting me nowhere, and I watched helplessly as Alex walked up the driveway and disappeared behind the house. He was carrying Samuel’s rifle.

“You know, now would be the perfect time,” I said, turning my attention back to Heath.

He looked up at me and frowned. “What?”

I gestured to the journal again. “Garth’s going to be a little preoccupied at the moment. I say take it and make a run for it. Drive out of town, far away from Kent. Make a few calls. Get a nice little setup going on before he even knows what hit him.”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Take me with you.”

Heath’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

“Take me with you,” I repeated. “Come on, you don’t honestly think I want to stay in this hell hole forever do you?”

Heath frowned at me, the confusion etched on his face almost making me smile.

“Alex was just a means to an end,” I said. “This is all a show. Take out Alex, and Samuel would be too heartbroken to do anything but sell. He’d need the money to take care of Kelly.”

“Bullshit,” Heath said. “You know, sometimes I get the feeling you think I’m a complete idiot.”

“Why?” I asked. “Because Garth didn’t tell you about all this? You know him better than anyone. How was this going to be believable if we continued seeing each other?”

“Okay, now you’re just blabbering a bunch of nonsense,” Heath said. “If this was some great plan, then why are you tied up over there?”

“You said it yourself, too many people,” I replied. “Garth doesn’t know who to trust anymore. We staged the whole kidnapping.”

Heath shook his head, but I could already see that he was starting to doubt his own logic. “That’s bull. He would have told me.”

“Actually, he wanted to,” I said. “I convinced him not to. For this to work, everyone had to be kept in the dark, even you.”

Heath ran a hand across his face and scratched the back of his head. He stood up and began to pace back and forth. He shook his head and waved a finger at me.

“See, there you go, playing with me again,” he said. “Garth would never agree to that.”

“It’s perfect, and you know it,” I said. “You just don’t want to believe it because you never thought he’d keep you in the dark about anything. Garth is always going to look out for number one, and that number one is him. He’ll toss anyone aside if it works in his favor.”

“And what’s going to stop him from tossing you to the curb?”

“Nothing,” I said. “That’s why I’m telling you to take me with you. You have his contacts right there in your hands. Every name and number he’s ever needed to build his little empire. All I ask is you take me with you.”

Heath eyed me for what seemed like forever, and I knew I had gotten to him. When you broke him down to his core, all Heath really wanted was power and recognition, both of which Garth was barely giving him. All I needed was a little push to get him to turn on Garth completely.

I adjusted myself on the couch, letting my feet fall to the floor, and opened my legs wide.

“What are you doing?”

“Come on, Heath,” I tried my best to smile seductively. “Don’t tell me you weren’t just a little curious about what made Garth bend over backwards for me?”

His eyes rested on my crotch, and I pushed my chest out towards him. “Take me with you,” I whispered, “and I promise you, you’ll get a lot more than just a journal.”

“Prove it.”

The request took me by surprise, and for a brief second, my composure faltered. “Excuse me?”

“Prove it,” he repeated. “You say you want out. You say you want me to take you with me, that you’d give me all of that.” He gestured with his hand at me. “Prove it.”

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